Re: Economic comparison Estonia<->Finland -- some 80 years ago?


"Eugene Holman" <holman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:holman-1301060944430001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> In article <1137135200.581327.33540@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Leo"
> <lazauskas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> <deletions>
>>
>> Just wondering... when did English become a major "other" language in
>> Finland?
>
> The short answer:
> During the 1970s, consequent to English being made a virtually compulsory
> (>95% of students) first foreign language in the comprehensive school
> system. The 1970s marked the beginning of a generation change in Finnish
> education, the primary trend within which was that educators educated
> before and during WW II with German culture being the model to emulate
> began to be replaced by the post-war generation raised to regard
> Anglo-American culture as an ideal.

Don't forget the importance of television. Ever since its start in the
1950s, Finnish TV has been brainwashing the population with American and
English material, always subtitled: you hear the spoken language and read
the translation. Children seem to understand English even before they learn
it at school, and old people who never studied English find themselves able
to follow a dialogue on TV even should the subtitles suddenly disappear for
a while.

Subtitled TV and movies are a peculiarity of the smaller nations of
Europe -- you need a certain audience size to make dubbing, the alternative,
profitable. That's why people in Scandinavia, Holland, Portugal and Greece
are better English-speakers than the Germans, the French, the Spanish or the
Italians.

Regards,
John


.

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